Life Goes On
by Stooksss
Summary: Margot has fallen upon hard times, but one night meets Adrian Ivashkov. During their time together, she can't help but think there's something he's hiding. Will he be able to share his secrets, and will she be able to realize her own?
1. Chapter 1

I sighed as I took my robe off and sat on the stool that was placed in the middle of the room. It was only desperation that caused me to willingly pose nude in front of a group of strangers. I felt extremely vulnerable and out of my element. I kept trying to make myself feel better by rationalizing the situation; I was being paid to be art. Repeating that in my head didn't seem to help at all. At least 15 people were concentration on every inch of my body. I didn't even like to look at myself naked for too long, so having other people stare was completely alien to me. It took all self-control that I could muster to sit still and not fidget for the full hour. I couldn't have been happier when the instructor handed me my robe and the envelope with the $50 for posing.

Once I was fully clothed again, I went outside to smoke and could what money I had. I'd been doing random things all week to be able to keep paying for the hotel room I was staying in. It was false hope that I was holding onto, though. Even after this, donating plasma, handing out fliers, and cleaning park bathrooms, I was still short. Part of me knew that I would be screwed, but it was only after counting everything that it really hit me. I put my head in my hands and tried to stop myself from having an anxiety attack.

"You okay?" a voice said next to me. I looked up and couldn't help but be a little bit taken aback. A guy was sitting next to me; a beautiful guy. He was dressed in dark denim jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black blazer. His exposed skin seemed to be glowing in the moonlight, and his green eyes were bearing down at me.

"Well, I've never had to contemplate living in my car before, so not really." I instantly felt bad for telling my problems to a stranger. "Shit, sorry. TMI."

"You're okay. Why would you have to live in your car?"

"Long story short, I can't afford to keep staying where I've been staying."

"I don't know what happened to put you in this situation, but let me take you for a drink to take your mind off of it." His offer was completely unexpected.

"Um…" I really didn't know what to say.

"Come on. It's not like you have to be anywhere."

"Well, that is true…sure. Why not?"

"Great! I'm Adrian, but the way. I just saw you naked." A huge grin spread across his face and he caught be off guard for the second time in under a minute.

It took a couple of shots to help me get passed the embarrassment enough to talk again. When I was no longer completely mortified, I was finally able to introduce myself.

"I'm Margot." I told him before taking a drink of my pomegranate margarita. It tasted delicious. Adrian had insisted on paying for his martini and my margarita, no matter how much I tried to give him the money. He had a point when he kept saying that he was the one who offered in the first place, but I felt awkward about it. A guy hadn't bought me a drink in what seemed like a really long time. We sat in silence, drinking for a bit, until Adrian decided to talk.

"So Margot, how about you tell me why you are apparently going to be living in your car." He finished the remainder of his drink and then smiled at me.

"I made the mistake of telling my dad that I wasn't going to finish med school."

"And as a result, you're now homeless. Seems normal."

"It is a normal consequence for pissing my dad off. He said he wouldn't be associated with me if I was going to choose to ruin my own life, so he kicked me out and cut me off."

"Damn, that's harsh."

"You can't even imagine." I sighed and finished my drink. "Evil bastard."

"Actually, I can. Something similar happened to me awhile ago." Adrian was lost in thought with a furrowed brow and serious face. He motioned to the bartender for a couple more shots. We took them, and then a couple more. It was a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence before he talked again. "Come stay at my place until you figure things out. I have a pull out couch." I was glad I had finished my drink; otherwise I would have spit it all over him in shock.

"No. No way. That's really nice of you, but totally insane. We just met. We're still basically strangers. I can figure things out on my own." I picked up my keys and stood up to leave, but Adrian grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Look, I know what it's like to be cut off from someone who is supposed to love you. It sucks. I was lucky enough to have help from others, and now it's my turn to pay it forward. It gets cold at night and you'll freeze in your car. I'm not letting you sleep in it all night." His eyes drilled into mine as I thought about what he had just said. It was all crazy. This attractive stranger just offered me shelter. It screamed horrible idea.

"Okay." I told him. It was probable a huge mistake, but a pull out couch seemed better than spending a November, desert night in my car.

"Great!" His smile was huge. "And we're not really strangers. I mean, I have seen you naked." And with that, I was mortified…again.

Adrian informed me that he had taken the bus into town, so I had to drive him. I was thankful because he could easily give me directions, but kind of worried because if he didn't even own a car, what kind of apartment would he be living in? Would the couch be clean? I was starting to have second thoughts about all of this.

"I appreciate the ride. My car is in the shop right now. It's a classic, so I'm getting it looked at." That helped my thoughts. If he could pay for the upkeep of a classic, his couch must be clean. "You'll want to get onto the freeway and then off at exit 38." I did as he said, and the sudden change of speed caused something in the back seat to fall over. I'd always been told that I was hard on my car.

"Shit. I hope that wasn't anything important." I said mostly to myself. Adrian turned to look for me.

"A bag tipped over and clothes dumped onto a guitar."

"Eh, clothes won't hurt that thing. It's practically indestructible. I once used it t hit my brother and it broke his nose, but there wasn't a scratch on the wood." I laughed at the memory.

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. He's a coupe of years older than me, and a total jackass and me. I showed him not to snitch again."

"How old are you?"

"22. I'll be 23 in January. Not even mid-twenties and I'm already broke. My life is awesome."

"You may be broke, but now you know me, and my friendship is greater than any amount of money!" He smiled at me and I just laughed.

"How long have you been interested in art?" I tried making conversation because I hated being stuck in confined places in silence.

"I've always loved art. I took some classes before, but dropped out. I'm just not getting back into painting. I've got some at my apartment that you can check out."  
"Sounds good to me. Then I can judge if you were truly worthy of painting me."

"Oh, I'm worthy." He winked and I rolled my eyes. His phone started ringing as I pulled off at the exit. The voice on the other end sounded like it belonged to a younger girl.

"Hey Jill…yes…yes I know, don't worry…I've made a new friend and she's staying at my place, sleeping on the couch, and if you tell Sydney anything before I do, you'll regret it…heh, no worries, jailbait. Everything is fine…yep, I'll see you tomorrow. Later."

"Is Sydney some girlfriend I'll have to deal with? I'd rather risk it in my car than deal with an angry girlfriend."

"Oh god, no. Sydney and Jill are my little sisters. Sydney's a senior and Jill is a sophomore at Amberwood."

"Oh, okay. Cool. I just hate being the cause of problems for people. Especially relationship problems."

"I'm guessing that's happened to you before?"

"Had to get stitches and a restraining order. Bitch was crazy."

"You'll have to tell me that story sometime. But for now, turn left and then right into the parking garage. The code is 2641." I followed his directions, and a minute later, I was putting my clothes back into the bag they had fallen out of. I then grabbed my guitar to take inside. It could stand a lot of things, but the cold was not one of them. Adrian took my bag of random books and toiletries for me. I couldn't stay anywhere overnight without a book, toothbrush, and blow dryer.

I'm not sure what I expected Adrian's apartment to look like, but after he opened the door and turned on the lights, what I saw was very unexpected. His walls were painted a wild, bright yellow, his couch, loveseat and recliner were all a plushy, green plaid, and the appliances in his kitchen and living room were all very sleek. It all seemed like an odd combination, but it worked.

"I really love your wall color." It made me happy just looking at it. It was such a peppy yellow.

"Thank you." He said with intense sincerity. "No one else has liked it."

"How could they not like it? It just makes you cheerful."

"That's what I told them! We're definitely going to get along." Adrian grinned his knee-buckling grin and proceeded to give me a tour of his apartment. His hallway was lined with paintings, which I presumed were his. There were also a couple of smaller ones in his bathroom that I quickly glanced at. From what I could tell, he was very good. It made me wonder what his painting of me looked like.

"I'm going to go change, but make yourself at home." He went into his room and shut the door. I looked at his paintings a bit more and then went to change into my tank top and fleece pajama pants. Since I was already in the bathroom, I put my hair up and washed off my makeup. When I walked back into the living room, Adrian was busy making the couch bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, so I couldn't help but stare. His face was attractive, and now I saw that his body matched. He wasn't huge, but he had toned and defined muscles. I luckily wasn't drooling when he turned to face me.

"I really appreciate all of this. It is so damn nice of you. Is there any way I can pay you back?"

"No, don't worry about it. Like I said, I'm just paying it forward.

"I promise I'll get our of your hair as soon as I can."

"You can stay in my hair as long as you need to. Seriously, there's no rush for you to leave. It'll be nice to have someone else in the apartment."

"Thank you, Adrian."

"It's really no problem." We both smiled shyly at each other, which was weird. He hadn't been shy the entire night. "I'm, um, I'm going to get to bed, but feel free to watch TV or whatever if you aren't tired." Adrian went to leave and I tried to get our of his way, but we ended up doing that awkward thing where we just move back and forth in front of each other. It ended with us just a couple of inches apart and him looking down at me. I panicked and ended up doing the dumbest, most awkward thing ever. I help up my hand and had him high-five me. He laughed as he walked to his room, and I internally kicked myself as I got into bed.

I wasn't able to get much sleep. When I looked at the times once I decided that trying to fall back asleep was useless, I saw that it was 4:30 in the morning. I groaned, grabbed a cigarette and a cardigan, and went out to the balcony to smoke. I quietly slid the door shut and noticed that Adrian was standing at the railing, smoking and looking at the city below.

"Couldn't sleep either?" He asked as I stood next to him and lit my cigarette.

"Nope. I can hardly ever sleep through the entire night. I always wake up after a few hours." I took a drag and looked over at him. He was still shirtless, which I thought was crazy since it was pretty chilly. I stared at his glowing skin for a few seconds. "What about you?"

"Bad dream." He sounded like his mind was miles away.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." He turned to face me. "Will you promise me something?" He put his hands on my shoulders. He was looking at me, but his eyes seemed distant.

"Sure, Adrian."

"Don't let anyone tell you how to live your life. Don't do anything to give anyone else the upper hand on the decisions that are yours to make. It's no life worth living."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just promise me, Margot. Please!"

"I promise, Adrian. I promise." I looked up at him, confused, as he let me go. He lit another cigarette and went back to looking at the view. I sat down, still confused. Adrian seemed pretty eccentric, but what he just did was plain weird. I tried to blame it on the drinking, but for some reason, that just didn't feel right. Something was up with him, and it made me feel bad for him.

"Sorry for acting strange." He sounded me like himself this time. "I get a little out of it sometimes. Nothing to worry about." He smiled half-heartedly at me.

"You're fine, Adrian."

"Thanks. I think I'm going to try and get a little more sleep. I'll see you later." And with that, I was outside by myself.


	2. Chapter 2

When I went back into the apartment, I decided to just try and fall asleep again. On this rare occasion, I succeeded. I dreamt that I was in the ocean, in some sort of underwater biosphere. The room I was in was made of some clear material that could handle the pressure of being deep in the ocean without cracking. I looked all around me and saw all sorts of both beautiful and terrifying sea life. It was all pretty mesmerizing.

"Your dream is pretty cool." I turned around and saw Adrian standing in the doorway of the underwater room.

"Yeah, it is. I usually have pretty fucked up dreams, but this one is neat."

"You're not even going to ask why I'm here with you?"

"It's a dream. I just talked to you, so I fell asleep thinking about you, so of course you're here."

"You were thinking about me in bed? I'm flattered." He gave me what I was realizing to be his signature smile.

"Shut up, pervert. You're cute, but I don't know you well enough to think those things about you."

"You think I'm cute? Well, I can die now. Nothing else in life will ever top Margot thinking I'm attractive." Adrian held his arms up in triumph.

"You're such an idiot."

"Yeah, well, what can I say? It's part of my charm."

"You really are charming." Since this was all a dream, I was actually able to say what I was thinking without worrying about the consequences. That was one of the reasons I loved sleeping so much. My awkwardness wasn't a problem at all!

"You really think that?" He started walking towards me.

"Well, yeah. I really don't think I would have agreed to just stay at some stranger's apartment had they not had at least a bit of charm and wit."

"I'm glad you think that of me, and I'm really glad you agreed. I feel like we just click."

"I feel the same way." I looked up at him and smiled.

"It just worries me. I've got some secrets, and I'm scared you won't be able to be around me anymore. Part of me thinks it would have been easier to have just walked by you when you were outside of the school, but I never to the easier thing when it's less risky."

"Well I'm glad you didn't walk by." I put my hand on his cheek and kissed him. He started to kiss me back, but then stopped.

"I can't do this, Margot. Not now, like this."

"What do you mean? It's my dream. It's not like it's real. This is actually a weird dream. I wonder what my subconscious is trying to tell me by ruining my own fun time."

"You're adorable, you know that?" Adrian tucked my hair behind my ear. "I promise everything will make sense soon enough. I'm going to leave you alone with your fish now, but I'll see you when you wake up." He smiled down at me and then disappeared. I smiled to myself, lay down on the ground, and looked up at the fish above me. This turned out to be a nice dream.

I awoke a few hours later to the smell of coffee filling the apartment. It smelled delicious and triggered my caffeine addiction. I slid out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Adrian was clumsily rummaging through the cabinets, still half asleep. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:30

"Morning." I yawned. He just grunted at me, not quite awake enough to form words. After successfully pulling down two mugs, Adrian filled them with the coffee. I put some sugar in mine before taking a drink. It tasted even better than it smelled. He had to have bought the expensive stuff. We finished our cups in silence.

"That's much better." Adrian finally said. "I can't properly function this early without coffee."

"This is early for you?"

"Yeah. I normally get up around two. I have to meet my sisters in an hour, though, so I had to wake up at the ungodly hour." He grimaced and I just laughed at him. Even grumpy and disheveled from sleep, Adrian still managed to look like a model. It made me kind of jealous. I could feel my ponytail sagging and I was sure that any makeup I missed the night before was smeared across my face. He definitely won the wakeup look contest.

"What are you guys going to do?"

"We're just going to see our uncle. We see him a couple of times a week. He's getting old, so we're going while we can."

"That's really nice of you all to visit him. I'm sure he looks forward to your visits."

"Yeah. He's a cool old guy. I'm going to hop in the shower and get ready to go. I should only be gone a couple of hours, so we could get lunch or something later." He offered.

"That sounds good to me." We smiled at each other before he went to get ready. His smile made me feel like I was 16 again, which put up a red flag for me. I was staying with him until I got things figured out. I couldn't mess that up. As much and I hated to admit it, his letting me stay at the apartment pretty much saved me. Maybe that's why he pushed me away in my dream. My subconscious knew that my thoughts about him were only going to cause problems, so it made him stop. That had to be it.

"Later!" Adrian yelled to me once he was done getting dressed and walked out of the door. I had put the bed back into the couch and was folding the blankets when he left. I saw that he was wearing a pair of jeans with some holes in them and a green button-up shirt that matched his eyes. I should have known that he would look nice, but that didn't stop the butterflies that I got after seeing him. I tried to ignore them and decided to shower and get ready for the day.

The shower in Adrian's bathroom was huge. It looked like it could easily hold four people, but that seemed creepy to think about. I turned the water on and just stood under its warmth for a few minutes before I started washing everything. No matter how bad you felt, a hot shower could make everything better, at least for a little while. My favorite part about showers, aside from the warm, relaxing water, was coming out completely smooth. Shaving was a pain in the ass, but the results were worth it.

When I was done in the shower, I put on my foundation and eye makeup, put some shine serum in my hair, and then dried it. While I liked being warm, I felt dizzy by the time I was done with everything. I went to get a drink out of the fridge and saw that Adrian only had milk and alcohol. Milk was disgusting to me, so I grabbed a green apple Smirnoff Ice. It may have only been noon, but it's not like I had anywhere that I needed to be.

When I didn't feel lightheaded and more, I dug through my bag of clothes to find something to wear. A both towel just didn't seem like an appropriate outfit. I decided on black leggings and an over-sized peach colored sweater. It was really comfy, and it looked cute, too. Once dressed, I decided to look through Adrian's movie collection. He had a lot of what you'd expect a guy in his twenties to have. There were actions, thrillers, horrors, and some raunchy movies. I chose _The Woman in Black_ starring Daniel Radcliffe. That boy was one of my favorite actors. Right as Daniel was walking down the hallway, looking for whatever was making noised, the apartment door slammed shut and I almost chocked on my drink.

"You sure know how to make an entrance." I said, after coughing.

"It's one of my specialties." Adrian grinned at me, his cheeks rosy.

"You drunk?" I asked.

"Not at all, but it looks like you're getting there." He motioned to the empty Smirnoff bottle.

"Hey, it's not my fault that the only non-alcoholic drink you have is milk, which is disgusting."

"Sydney made me get it. Something about calcium…anyway! Ready for lunch?"

"Yeah. Do I need to drive?"

"Nah. It's just a few blocks away." He informed me. I put on my black leather boots and we were on out way.

It was a pretty nice day out, with temperature in the sixties. It was my favorite kind of weather. I enjoyed walking down the street in the sun. Adrian's company made it better.

"Were you able to sleep pretty well?" Adrian asked after lighting a cigarette.

"Yeah, aside from when I woke up at 4:30."

"Same here. Sorry for acting strange. It just happens from time to time."

"You were fine." I smiled over at him. "I had a dream last night that you were in." I looked over and could have sworn I saw the corner of his mouth go up into a smirk.

"Really? What happened?"

"We were underwater in some sort of spherical room. You rejected me, asshole." I playfully shoved him.

"Hey!" He laughed. "I'm sure it was for a good reason, right?"

"I don't know much about dreams, but I think it was a good reason."

"You've already thought about it?"

"Yeah." I blushed. "I figured my subconscious knew it was wrong to dream about anything intimate because you're being so nice by letting me stay at your place, and I don't want you do anything that would mess that up. You really saved my ass by letting me stay with you."

"I already told you that it's no problem." He shot a smile my way. "And you don't have to worry about messing things up. I wouldn't kick you out. No matter how irresistible you find me."

"You're a total dork."

"That may be true, but I'm a dork who offered to buy you lunch, so don't mess that up for yourself." Adrian wagged his finger at me and we both laughed.

The restaurant that Adrian decided on was a small sandwich place. Looking at their menu, I decided that it was a nice place. I ordered a turkey sandwich on asiago cheese bread. Adrian got something with ham, and once it was ready, we found a table to sit at. I took a bite as I watched him. I was starting to feel creepy always staring at him, but I couldn't help it. Everything he did was just really cute. As he ate, he got mustard on his cheek. I just smiled as I watched him trying to get it off with his tongue, but it was too far of a reach for it. I laughed and handed him a napkin.

"Thanks." He smiled and wiped his face. "So you never told me why you decided not to finish med school." I hadn't expected him asking, nor had I expected explaining, so this completely hit me off guard.

"Um…well, I didn't like it?" He'd think I was absolutely crazy if he knew what I really wanted to do.

"That's a good reason to stop, but I don't think it's the main one. "

"You see right through me, don't you?"

"If you tell me, I'll tell you something about me." I wasn't sure what was so different about him that he thought it was a reasonable bargain for information, but I felt like he wouldn't judge me for my secret. I just got this vibe from him that I couldn't explain. It seemed super corny once I thought about it, but that's really what it was like.

"Fine. Do you, um, believe in, god, this is awkward. Do you believe in magic?"

"Like the song, or hats and rabbits?"

"Shit. You're making fun of me." I put my head on the table, feeling completely stupid for trying to tell him, though it did sound stupid on my part when I said it out loud.

"Hey," He tapped my head and I looked up at him. "I'm sorry. Stupid joke. But yes, I believe in magic. All kinds."

"What do you mean all kinds?"

"We'll get to that later. Now why do you ask if I believe in magic?"

"Because I'm kind of really good at it. I've been working with one of the teachers at the school where your sisters go."

"Huh…I think I know who you're talking about. Weird, spazzy lady? Always gets names wrong?"

"Ha, that would be her. I'm Margaret to her, but enough about that. I told you my secret, so you tell me what yours is." I took a bite of my sandwich and looked at him expectantly. He just smiled at toothy grin, which I thought was an odd thing to do at that exact moment, until I saw fangs.


End file.
